news

Minutes courtesy of the club Secretary, Mr. Dennis Harwell:

Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 1732 by Dennis Mathis.

Introductions: Special guests were introduced by Mr Mathis, including:
• John Riley, the Director of Public Works.
• Harry Andonian
• Bob Sudderith, our Guest Speaker for the evening.
Treasurer's Report:
• B.J. Finney provided a brief summary of the Club’s current financial status.
Secretary's Report:
• Dennis Harwell announced that those club membership cards which had not been picked up since the January General Membership meeting were available to be picked up at this evening’s meeting.
Aircraft Status:
• Dennis Guinn noted that the Archer’s wheel fairing has been repaired and returned to us, so it is ready to be re-attached.
• Mr. Guinn also noted that two of the Cessna’s engine cylinders failed to reach proper compression and had to be removed for service. They will hopefully be re-attached on Friday, 25 May (tomorrow).
Club Events:
• Denis Rottler noted that while there were currently no events scheduled on the club events calendar, new events are in-work, based on the input the membership provided from the survey he conducted in January.
• Mr. Rottler provided a brief summary of the results of the survey, listing the types of events that are interesting to the membership.
Safety Officer / Chief Pilot's Safety Briefing:
• Mark Armstrong was unable to arrive at the meeting until late, so he was unable to provide a safety briefing.
Recognition:
• Dennis Mathis announced that Tyler Sanders recently successfully completed his checkride and received his FAA Private Pilot certificate. He was presented with a special Club certificate for his achievement.
• Mr. Mathis also announced that Zach Miller also recently successfully completed his checkride and obtained his FAA Private Pilot certificate. He was also presented with a special Club certificate.
• Mr. Mathis also announced that Nathaniel Bennett and Josh Stone recently passed their checkrides and received their FAA Private Pilot certificates, but neither were present at the meeting to be recognized.
Guest Speaker:
• Our Guest Speaker for the evening was Bob Sudderith, an aerospace engineer with an interesting career, including a number of years at Edwards Air Force Base during the time of critical historic supersonic research. He presented an interesting program about the history of supersonic flight.
• Mr. Suddertih was presented with a personalized “Thank-You� coffee mug after his talk.

The meeting was adjourned by Dennis Mathis at 1712.

View a slideshow of ALL of the pictures taken at the May 2018 Membership Meeting: Membership Meeting - May 2018

The club held its annual Wash & Wax Party on Saturday, May 19th. Dennis Guinn, our Maintenance Officer, organized another very successful event. We had a total of eleven folks show up to help wash, wax, vacuum, clean windows, eat sandwiches, and tell stories!

The Bennett family washed the Archer the previous weekend so the Archer didn't need to come out of the hangar. Nice job Bennett family! The Archer was dusted off and then waxed in the shade of the hangar by a dedicated foursome comprised of Dennis Guinn, Ian Horbaczewski, Tom Hubert, and Theo Hughes. Apparently you have to be in a special section of the alphabet to get that plum job!

The Cessna got the full treatment even though it was missing two cylinders. The engine was covered with plastic to protect it from water overspray and Alysia Hall, Zach Miller, Christine Rottler, and Bill Schatz got after it. Mineral spirits made quick work of the belly degreasing effort while Alysia cleaned the inside of the windows. Buckets were filled with soapy water, washing pads were passed out, and the mighty Cessna got its bath. After drying it off, it was pushed back into the hanger for the wax job.

Even though the engine cowling pieces were removed, they got some love from Clarke Erwin. They are all cleaned up and waxed and ready to be reinstalled when the cylinders come back from the repair shop.

We were finished by 11 a.m. and the Subway sandwiches, chips, and cookies were delivered around 11:15 a.m. There was a nice breeze and some cloud cover which made sitting in the shade of Bay 1 very pleasant. Mr. Guinn, with the help of Lisa Reeder, conducted a raffle to give away three mini-LED flashlights, two aviation related koozies, and several scratch off tickets. No millionaires this time but if the winners work together they can use their flashlights to find their ice cold beers in their new koozies if the lights ever go out!

As usual, we sat around and talked and told lies for a while which is always way more fun than working. Since we spent more time eating and telling lies than working, it has to be called a success.

Thanks to all of you who volunteered your Saturday morning to Wash & Wax the club airplane. They look really nice and very shiny!

The process of getting the club airplanes through their annual inspection and back in the air requires quite a bit of effort. There is a lot of coordination required between our A&P mechanic, Mike Zimmerman and the club Maintenance Officer, Dennis Guinn. Replacement parts have to be identified and ordered which generally falls to our president, Dennis Mathis. This year for example, the Archer received a re-manufactured engine which added to the work load and the schedule! Sufficed to say, there is a lot of behind the scenes effort required in an attempt to minimize the down time of the airplanes during the annual.

This year the club had a good number of members volunteer their time and labor to help expedite the process. There are always tasks we can accomplish as members which don't require Mike's expertise and which allows him to concentrate on the important stuff. Interior removals, vacuuming the exposed areas, lubing the control cables, and patching wheel fairings for example were all accomplished by members.

Of course, none of it would happen if we didn't have Mike Zimmerman working on his days off and on Saturdays trying his best to get our planes back in service.

So, in order to properly acknowledge the efforts related to this year's annual process, the Board of Directors decided have a small celebration at a local Greenville restaurant and treat some of the folks and their spouses to a nice dinner. Some wine was consumed, some prizes were raffled off, and looking at the pictures, it looks like a good time was had.

Thanks to all for the extra help you provided this year. Only seven months before the Cessna annual!

The students of the 2018 Majors Flying Club (MFC) Private Pilot Ground School class have successfully completed the course and proclaimed in unison, "...let them eat cake!" As is the tradition the conclusion of the ground school is celebrated with a guest speaker (this year it was Dr. Sparks and two of his nurses), the grading of the End Of Course exam, the handing out their completion certificates, and the cutting of the special cake.

The class this started year started on February 3rd with seventeen (17) registered students. The class went for the scheduled fourteen (14) weeks and was completed on May 3rd with twelve (12) students completing the course. The attrition is not unusual as work, family, and other life events typically impacts a small percentage of the students. Quite often however those affected students are able to complete the class the following year.

This class was similar to other classes in that there was a wide variety of reasons for taking the class, a wide range of aviation experience, and that they were all subjected to a wide range of bad jokes. Some students take the course to learn a bit about airplanes to help them in their job, some take the course for the knowledge, some take the course with the intention of learning to fly, some are already working on their private pilot certificate, some of them already have an airplane, but none of them took the class for the jokes.

In addition to being taught by several very experienced instructors over the course of the fourteen weeks, the MFC offers a short orientation flight to all interested members of the class as part of the package price. The flights typically fly a twenty minute leg for each of the students and typically land at either McKinney, Mesquite, or both depending on the number of students on the flight. The students get to drive for a while, experience at least one takeoff and hopefully at least one landing, listen to Air Traffic Control, listen to the control tower communications, and visit a couple of local FBO's. It is a really nice perk to attending the class.

The classes for 2019 will start in February. Stay tuned to the website for details regarding the Majors Flying Club 2019 Private Pilot Ground School class.

On Saturday, February 17, 2018, quite a few folks met at Soulman's BBQ in Greenville, TX around 11:30 a.m. to celebrate Harry Andonian's 94th birthday. Thanks to Karen Smith, the room was nicely decorated with patriotic table cloths, plates, and napkins. The room really looked good. Thanks to the organizer of the event, Dennis Mathis, a personalized, second iteration birthday cake with two candles was on display. The second iteration of the cake is another story all by itself. And as become tradition for all Majors Flying Club related events, and much to the chagrin of Gordon Hay, he provided yet another batch of his epic Ghiradelli brownies. Shortage of food and dessert was NOT an issue.

Folks started gathering around around 11:30 a.m. for the perfunctory howdy's before answering the siren call of the Soulman's BBQ food line. Good conversation ensued as folks enjoyed their BBQ lunches on the nicely decorated tables in the backroom of Soulman's. With the majority of the mastication being complete, Dennis Mathis stood to welcome everyone and to provide a brief introduction. Mr. Mathis mentioned, among other things, Harry's induction into the Lancaster Aerospace Walk of Honor. The Walk of Honor is dedicated to recognizing one hundred distinguished test pilots who conducted test flights at Edwards Air Force base and other notable locations around the country. Check out the history of the Walk of Honor, the names of the other ninety-nine honoree and their pictures and profiles at the Lancaster Aerospace Walk of Honor website.

Harry was kind enough to stand up and share several of the stories related to the pictures on his birthday cake. Included in those pictures is the notable picture of Bozo the Clown before his ride on the Vomit Comet, Harry in a pressurized suit, and his Debonair. The Bozo the Clown story is a classic. Of note, there is NO post flight Bozo the Clown picture. Harry talked a bit more about flying the Vomit Comet, flying the L-450 in a pressurized suit, the recognition the crew and passengers of a commercial airliner gave him on his way to his induction at the Lancaster Aerospace Walk of Honor, and flying his Debonair. Always entertaining and good the hear any of Harry's stories.

The #9 candle and the #4 candle were lit and the crowd burst out in a heartfelt, if off key, rendition of the Happy Birthday song. The cake was cut and distributed, the brownies were devoured, and a good time was had by all.

Thank you for letting us be part of your 94th Birthday celebration Harry!

Minutes provided courtesy of the club Secretary, Mr. Dennis Harwell.

Convened in the Majors Field terminal bldg. @ 1722

Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 1722 by Dennis Mathis.

Annual Elections:
• The elections were conducted by Clint Logwood and were held in the MFC Clubhouse shortly after 1700, before the start of the general membership meeting.
• The existing Board members had all indicated that they were willing to serve on the Board for another year. There were no nominations for additional Board candidates from the floor, and Mr. Logwood then requested that a motion be made to close the nominations. Tom Hubert made the motion, and Robert McEnaney seconded the motion.
• The Majors Flying Club Board of Directors (BOD) were unanimously re-elected by the regular members present.
Introductions: Special guests were introduced by Mr Mathis, including:
• Ed Smith (Brad Smith’s father—Brad Smith was the evening speaker for the meeting.)
• Harry Andonian
• Ty Helton, the Majors Field General Aviation Manager.
• New Ground School students
Thank-Yous: The following people were recognized for their contributions to the meeting:
• Ty Helton and James Finley, for rearranging furniture and setting up additional chairs in the Terminal Building for the meeting.
• Joe Rector, for supplying the pizzas that were served.
• Tom Hubert, for recording the meeting on video.
• Denis Rottler, for additional “right-hand man� assistance.
• Brad and Karen Smith, for putting the evening speaker’s program together.
Safety Officer / Chief Pilot's Safety Briefing:
• Mark Armstrong spoke about Human Factors in aviation safety, including:
• Usually, multiple factors combine to cause an accident.
• The “I’M SAFE� principle: Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, and Emotion (or sometimes, Eating).
• Fuel Management: Plan on arriving at your destination with one hour of fuel remaining.
o Know your fuel burn rate. Don’t trust your fuel level indicator.
• Proficiency: See the Club operations rules on proficiency. Try to fly at least one per month, with at least three takeoffs and landings.
• Collision Avoidance: Keep your eyes outside of the airplane. See and avoid air traffic.
• There is an Accident Response Checklist in both aircraft. They are in the aircraft logbooks, just in case.
• Mr. Armstrong will be sending out a questionnaire via e-mail, and asked that everyone respond.
Treasurer's Report:
• B.J. Finney provided a handout with a summary of the Club’s income and major expenses for 2017, which was discussed.
Secretary's Report:
• Dennis Harwell provided a capsule summary of the minutes from the last General Membership Meeting, which was held on 28 September, 2017.
• Mr. Harwell announced that the new club membership cards were available to be handed out at the meeting.
Aircraft Status:
• Dennis Guinn announced that the Cessna is currently unavailable because it is undergoing its annual inspection. It is hoped to be available next week, after some parts (on order) arrive.
• Mr. Guinn also announced that the Archer will be getting a new engine during its annual inspection in March. Some small issues with the Archer will be looked at during the annual.
• Both aircraft will have engine oil pan heaters installed during their annual inspections. These will make oil changes and winter starts much easier.
Special Interest Items:
• Club Trips: Denis Rottler gave a capsule summary of last year’s club events:
o The Aircraft Salvage of Dallas (ASOD) tour Fly-Out in January was attempted, but scrubbed due to weather.
o Choctaw/Durant, Oklahoma Fly-Out in February had three or four aircraft flying for the event.
o The Wash and Wax party for both aircraft in March had good attendance and good food.
o The Mount Pleasant Fly-Out to the Mid-America Flight Museum in June was enjoyed by many.
o The Landing Proficiency Seminar with Mike Montefusco in August was well attended.
o For this year, Mr. Rottler handed out a survey sheet, soliciting suggestions for upcoming events.
• Taxiway Lighting Project: Mr. Mathis announced that this is currently underway, and is expected to be completed by the end of March. We may also get Pilot-Controlled Lighting (PCL), but this is not known for certain.
• WINGS Program: Mr. Mathis also spoke about the FAA WINGS program, which can make flight reviews easier.
o Start the program one year before your next flight review is due.
o You need to complete three knowledge courses and three flight activities with an instructor. The flight activities are fairly short, usually less than one hour each.
o Upon completion, your next flight review due date is then advanced by two years.
o Learn about the WINGS program at FAASafety.gov.
Recognition:
• Dennis Mathis announced that Nathaniel Bennett soloed at the end of December.
• Mr. Mathis also announced that Zach Miller and Josh Stone recently soloed.
Guest Speaker:
• Our Guest Speaker for the evening was Brad Smith, the DPE at Majors Field. He presented an interesting program about his aviation career, which spanned the Military, Commercial, Airlines, and General Aviation realms, finishing with some interesting stories of some of his experiences as a DPE.
• Mr. Smith was presented with a customized “Thank-You� coffee mug after his talk.

The meeting was adjourned by Dennis Mathis at 1859.

View a slideshow of ALL of the pictures taken at the Fall 2017 SAW: Fall 2017 SAW

The 3rd quarter Membership meeting was held in the Majors Flying Club hangar on Thursday, September 28, 2017. The well attended event featured burgers and brats courtesy of Chef Rector, a Safety Briefing by Chief Pilot & Safety Officer Mark Armstrong, a Treasurer's report from the Treasurer B.J. FInney, a report from the Secretary, Dennis Harwell, an aircraft status report from the Maintenance Officer, Dennis Guinn, recognition of Mr. Young Lee earning his Private Pilot certificate, and best of all, Part Two of Mr. Dennis Mathis' Air Force career.

A while back, Mr. Mathis was the guest speaker for one of our membership meetings. At that time, he shared his experiences and stories about Part One of his Air Force career. Fortunately, Mr. Mathis agreed to finish his story and presented Part Two (1965-1980) of his Air Force career tonight. This period of his career was after his stint as a Navigator and his transition to a pilot. He has time in T-41's (C172F), T37B Tweet, T-38A Talon, the T7A Caribou and several others. Several of his assignments in the late 1960's to mid 1970's were in Southeast Asia.

It is always fascinating to hear these real life stories and experiences and to be reminded of what others have given to this country to make it safe for the rest of us.

View a slideshow of ALL of the pictures taken at the September 2017 Membership Meeting: Membership Meeting - Sep2017

The club's Archer participated in Operation Airdrop with a flight to Beaumont Municipal airport (KBMT) yesterday. Lets just say it started off with a BANG! Denis Rottler and I flew the Archer, loaded with about 150 lbs of supplies, to KBMT. We took off at 0915 and after an uneventful 2 hr flight, we touched down on runway 31 and discovered that our left main tire was flat. Without going into too much detail, the FBO and some very helpful Army folks, helped get the aircraft off the runway and towed to the hangar. (thank you Joey and Bret).

The FBO was able to roundup an old used tire, sold us a new tube, and with the help of Phil Robertson (an A&P at Liberty airport), we were headed back to Greenville by 1830, arriving at 2045. Thank you Phil.

The ladies coordinating the distribution of the relief supplies at KBMT are truly amazing. I'm calling them the BEAUMONT ANGELS because of the work they are doing. For the 7 hours Denis and I were at the FBO, we witnessed them on the telephone almost constantly coordinating the delivery and pick up of supplies and working with people seeking supplies coming into the FBO all afternoon. The support and the genuine desire of folks helping the victims of hurricane Harvey was truly amazing. Disasters such as this bring out the best in people.

After months of planning and coordination, an event we starting talking about in March of this year, finally came to fruition on Saturday, August 12, 2017. The Landing Proficiency Seminar was a well attended, informative, and a very professionally conducted seminar.

We used marketing and advertising forums to promote this event similar to what we used for the November 2016 Breakfast Fly-In. All of the local airports and EAA Chapters were emailed a copy of the flyer and asked to post it. A Facebook event was created and was spread around (liked and shared) by our good friend from Mineola-Wisener (3F9), Lupita Wisener. In all we registered thirty-seven folks for the event. Of those thirty-seven folks about half of them were from Greenville and/or are Majors Flying Club members. The remainder were from Sulphur Springs, Mineola-Wisener, McKinney, Rockwall, and Emory. We were expecting five fly-in airplanes but due to mechanical issues and weather only two airplanes were able to fly in.

Mandy and Carl Brown from the local EAA Chapter (neither the EAA nor the local EAA Chapter were affiliated with this event) greeted our guests at the registration desk. In addition to passing out City of Greenville goody bags and checking in our guests, they passed out raffle tickets and collected contact information for Mike Montefusco. The Fuel Reimbursement table, adjacent to the Registration table, was manned by none other than our own Joe Rector. Joe wasn't very busy but like a true sailor, he knew how to pretend. In the end, thirty-six folks signed in and attended the seminar.

The City of Greenville and the Majors Aviation Manager, Mr. Ty Helton, provided the shuttle vehicle and the shuttle driver service between the FBO and the L-3 Rec Hall for those folks who flew in or chose to park their vehicles at the airport. Thanks Ty.

Thanks to our generous sponsors, local dentists Dr. Jackson Bean of Complete Dental Care and Dr. Jeff Nelson of North Texas Dental Care, we were able to provide our guests with catered Subway sandwiches, chips, fruit, tea, water, and cookies. Many thanks to our generous sponsors for a very well received lunch. The L-3 Rec Hall was set up with a "help yourself" serving line as well as several circular tables for eating and telling lies. Lunch was available starting at 11:30 a.m. and folks didn't have to be asked twice. There was quite a bit of camaraderie going on at those tables between munching on sandwiches, watching Mike Montefusco's videos, and the ever present hangar flying talk.

The President of the Majors Flying Club, Mr. Mathis, made some introductory remarks and welcomed our guests prior to the start of lunch. Around 12:30 p.m. when all of the sandwiches had been consumed, Mr. Mathis got the program rolling by conducting the raffle. Thanks to Gordon Hay, we had two very nice stainless steel, insulated tumblers to give away. We also had a $50 gift certificate for Sporty's and one for Aircraft Spruce to give away. With the crowd all stirred up, Mr. Mathis introduced our guest speaker, Mr. Mike Montefusco. Mike is a former L-3 employee and is at least partially responsible for starting the very successful Private Pilot Ground School program hosted annually by the MFC. Mike is a very experienced and professional speaker.

As a bonus, Mike invited Larry Cross from Aviation Performance Solutions in Arlington to talk a bit about their Upset Prevention and Recovery program. Larry had some interesting (unsettling) video and sobering accident statistics as they relate to the cause of the highest number of accidents for general aviation. He gave a short slide presentation that was both informative and eye opening. We have been invited to make APS a destination for one of our Majors Field Flyout events and it seems like it would be a very interesting trip.

Mike gave us a bit more than just Landing Proficiency tips as part of his presentation. We received a taste of his training mindset and his use of acronyms to reinforce those ideas. His tips for being mentally prepared for alternate outcomes instead of what "normally" happens was excellent food for thought. Will you ever be able to forget "ETOISARTO", "ELISAGA", and "EIAISAMA"? I think not. Mike discussed Landing Proficiency, with regard to being prepared and having go/no go decision points, in a similar manner. He discussed his method for knowing your position, speed, and configuration at various "gates" in order to make stabilized approaches and landings or to be used as no/no go decisions points. As usual, his presentation was energized, professional, and information. Well done and thank you Mike.

Based on the feedback, the attendance, and the willingness of Mr. Montefusco to present another program in the future, we will likely look at hosting another seminar in 2018.

Many thank to the volunteers who showed up early to help set up and who stayed after the seminar to help clean up. Like most things, it takes a village to pull these events off and the help is greatly appreciated. If you haven't volunteered to help with one of our MFC events, please consider volunteering for the next one (we can never have too many volunteers!).